Ray Butler (born 30 December 1965) is an Irish former

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician who served as a Senator from 2016 to 2020, after being

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

. He previously served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Meath West constituency from 2011 to 2016. Living in

Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

, Butler's family is originally from Kells. He served on Trim Town Council from 2004 to 2011, including a year as mayor of that council, and was elected to

Meath County Council Meath County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae na Mí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

in May 2009. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. Butler was nominated to the

25th Seanad This is a list of the members of the 25th Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. 49 Senators were elected in April 2016 when postal voting closed. The Taoiseach nominated an additional eleven members to the ...

in May 2016. In 2019, it was reported that Butler had taken three years to repay the €30,000 severance allowance he received after losing his Dáil seat, which became forfeit and repayable once he accepted a nomination to the Seanad.

References

1965 births Living people Fine Gael TDs Local councillors in County Meath Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 25th Seanad Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Fine Gael senators {{Ireland-senator-stub